Steam, A Slag Crew Tale
by Syll Sixxus
Summary: Steam, the fearsome locomotive from TLoS: ANB, and how it came under the service of the Ape King Gaul.


Steam, a Slag Crew Tale

_10 Years before A New 'Beginning'…_

The dirty blue-and-yellow dragon looked up from where he sat at his desk, a messy blueprint scattering the papers he had been working on, tossed onto the desk in excitement by the burly soot-covered dragon that stood before him, a grin etched onto his dark face.

"Syke… really?" The dragon behind the desk asked, leaning back in the chair and holding his paws over his face. "What is this?"

"This here's what I call 'Steam, the locomotive'!" Syke replied happily, the dirty dragon almost bouncing on his paws in excitement, scattering ash everywhere. "Don't you like it Vebok?"

"I'd like if you'd stop making my office a mess, you're shedding soot everywhere!" He nearly snarled, looking at the mess as Syke stopped moving. "How would this even work!?"

"See? I got them piston chambers there, they propel the wheels! This runs offa steam power, just like everything else!" He said, pointing to the poorly-placed chambers on the wheels.

"This will never work… but if it will make you happy, and get you out of my office, then fine, you can build it. Just don't come crying to me when the whole damn thing explodes, ok?" Vebok replied, thrusting the filthy blueprints back to Syke, who took them happily as he dashed out. He shook his head at his teammate as he reorganized the papers he had been filling out for the past two nights. There was a cleaner-looking white dragon beside him, and currently it was snoring. He shook his head again as he picked up his quill, resigning himself to once again do the paperwork, alone. The forge was an unforgiving place, but 'Slag Crew' called it home, having been hatched and raised in the giant weapon factory. The factory had pressed the younglings into service at an early age, teaching them the ways of the metal-pits and manufacturing areas, as well as having the younglings form 'teams' when they were deemed ready by their educational system. Vebok, Syke, Kiliara, and lastly Zaraka made up 'Slag Crew'.

Vebok, the blue and yellow electric dragon, was the leader of the crew, and always did the paperwork, as well as engineer the crews' next project, which was mandated by the factory. Syke was the dirty, soot-covered earth dragon, and was the teams' heavy lifter, stonemason, and mechanic. Syke was the one called for when something was to be built; having an affinity for metal and able to shape it with a massive hammer that was always slung about his back. Kiliara was the teams 'Incinerator', and she did all the hotwork, from running the furnace to melting the ore, she possessed a wicked fire breath. She was a fire dragon, renown for both her fiery temper, and her incredibly hot flame which few could produce. Zaraka, a clean, white dragoness had really only joined 'Slag Crew' to fulfill the requirement of a four-member team, but had none-the-less found a place doing the paperwork with Vebok and working on standby when Kiliara was doing her firework. The dragon was allied with the element of ice, perfect for flash-freezing anything before it got to out-of-paw, although that seldom happened regardless. She hardly spoke, even when spoken too, opting to use instead grunts and shrugs.

Currently Vebok was working on registering in the upcoming showoff, something that all the teams had been waiting for. He had several different weapons he'd like to enter, but registering one took forever as it was. His task was also not helped by the end of the official working day, when he had to put down the papers and grab the shovels, to clear the debris in the shops. He had manufactured plows that strapped to the body, allowing him to stay on all fours to move the slag that was left behind and shift it to the refuse pile. Syke and Kiliara had managed to get to the site before him and Zaraka, who woke up when the end-of-day bell rang through the factory. They put on their plows and trudged through the forge, a hard task that they had become well accustomed to. The Slag Crew was named as such for its main task in the forge, in the elaborate system the officials had put into place. Each team within the forge was given a title, which denoted their overall position. Furnace Crew, for instance, started the furnaces that died during the night, keeping the forge swelteringly hot as well as providing a means to work the metals. Each team had different shifts during the day, and were given free working time when they were done with their task, being mandated at that point to either design or construct something of use and value, mostly weaponry that could be sold to both sides of the war. There were a few that focused on objects of pleasure, and had engineered a phonograph, and the means to record sound. They had also made a few instruments, and with that, music occasionally filled the shops during the day.

They were given the grunt work, having been the youngest in the class, with only Zaraka being older than the other three. The main trio, Vebok, Syke, and Kiliara had become friends in their classes, found studying together afterwards, and had been quick to form most of their team when the time came. They finished with their work about an hour and a half later, there not having been much ore to melt down that day, and proceeded to the diner, which was in a different part of the giant complex. The forge was only a sector of the structure, but mostly everyone called the place 'the forge' or 'the factory'. They cleaned themselves up as much as they could before they left, however, but the soot at this point adhered to the scales, and was even thought to have replaced the pigment of the scale itself.

With most of the grime off, they made their way to their favorite haunt, a small and otherwise neglected diner in the far corner of the level. Syke had found the place when they first officially moved to their living area, and while it wasn't as close to the stairs as the other diners, it also had the grace of not being as crowded, allowing them to either eat quickly and leave, or rest and relax without much bother. Tonight Vebok ate quickly and left, leaving his teammates behind to enjoy their meal as he went back to his papers, however even that was to face delay. A rival team, Carry Crew, was waiting for him on the stairs. Carry Crew wasn't the brightest of all the teams, and due to a lack of imagination, resorted to stealing their rivals ideas and creations. They also were the ones tasked with carrying in the raw ore off of the trucks, and resented that fact. The leader, Grid, walked up to Vebok, the earth dragon confident he could force anything out of smaller lightning dragon.

"We know you're up to something, Vebok. Give us your blueprints and we'll let you go nicely." Grid growled, looking confused when Vebok grinned.

"Now, now, good fellow, you wouldn't want to be stuck in the infirmary tomorrow, would you?" He casually replied with a wave of his paw, earning a snarl from Grid.

"You can't possibly take us all, Vebok, you're all alone… and unless you give us what we want, you'll be in for a world of pain!" Grid was fuming at this point, for Vebok was outright laughing at him. "Why are you laughing!?"

"You idiot! Do you think you can really intimidate me?" Vebok cheerily replied, watching how his three opponents stood in front of him and moved. He wasn't a master tactician, but he could handle himself very well in a fight, having learned to keep a level head after watching Kiliara. Grid lunged, and Vebok quickly jumped onto his back, pushing off with his powerful hindlegs as sending the dragon down the stairs with a crash. He landed on the other twos backs, jumped off again, and took off running before they could register what had happened. He managed to make it to his office, which was connected to his teams living space, and set to work quickly, unfazed by the recent events.

**(Ha, first chapter of a story using different OC's! Leave a review, would ya?)**


End file.
